Of Sunshine and Aquatic Invertebrates
by Rhianwen
Summary: During a brief stay at the Clinic, Rick learns that it's easier to hate someone before you get to know them, Popuri learns that civil conversation is the key to conflict resolution, and Elli learns that she's no good with Evil Schemes.


Of Sunshine and Aquatic Invertebrates

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Summary: During a brief stay at the Clinic, Rick learns that it's easier to hold a mindless grudge against someone before you get to know them, Popuri learns that talking without shouting can do wonders in terms of conflict resolution, and Elli learns that she's no good at Evil Schemes.

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Disclaimer: I don't own them, and the guy who does probably wouldn't like me.

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When Rick awoke with a pounding headache, with a pretty young woman's face dancing blearily before his vision, he did what any red-blooded young man would do: promptly panicked.

"Wh-what happened?" he demanded, attempting to bolt from the little cot, only to find himself shoved abruptly back down by a small, unnaturally strong hand.

"Don't try to get up yet," a familiar voice ordered him quietly. "You'll probably have a concussion from this, and the doctor wants to make sure there was no damage to your vision."

Rick groaned in more despair than from the throbbing pain in his head; if he could have picked from all the people in Mineral Town to deal with while in severe pain, the Clinic's own nurse, receptionist, and overall housekeeper would have been an ironic and unfortunate dead last.

It wasn't that he didn't like Elli; it was more that he really, _really_ didn't like her. He had tried to deal with it, as strongly disliking one's best friend's second best friend was generally unadvisable, but for as long as he could remember, she had just rubbed him the wrong way.

All that smiling, and fretting, and iodine and Band-Aids and kisses better for her friends' skinned knees, and that baby doll she carried everywhere until she was about eight; there was a time and a place, but she managed to take it well beyond both.

"Uh, okay," he finally managed, collapsing back against the slightly scratchy pillow and wincing as the movement jarred his head painfully.

"Doctor," Elli was meanwhile calling from the little enclosure into her boss's makeshift office. "Rick's awake now."

"Oh, thank-you, Elli," the dark-haired man said, giving his nurse and girlfriend's hand an absent little squeeze before hurrying over to the cot. "Hi, Rick. How are you feeling?"

"Kind of like I got hit in the head with a baseball," he replied with a rueful little smile.

"Close, actually," the doctor said with a sympathetic wince. "Although, judging from how long you've been out, I'd say the rock was probably about the size of a baseball."

"Oh!" Both men looked quizzically up at the befrilled little brunette, and the source of this abrupt yelp. Elli blushed slightly. "Um, Doctor? Do you think I should run to the Poultry Farm to tell Popuri and Lillia that he's awake now?"

Dr. Cuthbert chuckled softly.

"Actually, Elli, I think we should let him rest a while longer."

"But Doctor, Popuri was really scared," she protested, frowning slightly.

"I heard her," the doctor grinned, and his nurse allowed herself a guilty little smile at the memory of the pretty pink-haired girl flying wildly around the waiting room, sobbing that she'd killed her only brother.

"And that's exactly why I don't think he'll be getting any rest if you tell her now."

"Yeah, let her worry," Rick grumbled, ignoring with difficulty a twinge of guilt at the idea of Poppy miserable instead of giggling and cheerful, because of him. "Her boyfriend's the idiot who chucked a rock at my head."

"Actually, Kai's the one who carried you here," the doctor pointed out.

Elli regarded him with huge, serious eyes.

"I thought it was awfully sweet; he was really worried about you, too."

Rick crossed his arms emphatically, then quickly uncrossed them when it occurred to him that he was still lying down, and probably looked rather silly in this pose.

"Oh, great! He tries to kill me, and everyone hails him as a hero because he didn't just leave me there to get a fine for bleeding all over the beach!"

"But Rick, he really was worried," she insisted, absently smoothing out the blanket draped over him.

"Maybe I should hit _you_ in the head with a rock, and see how much it helps when you wake up with throbbing headache that hey, I was definitely worried about you!"

"Alright, that's enough," Dr. Cuthbert interjected sharply, stepping quickly in front of Elli, the unconcious gesture effectively shielding her from Rick's glare-pout hybrid. "Rick, I know you haven't had the best day, and frankly, I'm impressed that you've even got the energy to bicker right now, but please try to refrain from threatening my staff." He threw a glance over his shoulder. "I think I have things under control here, Elli. Why don't you go finish up on those updates?"

"Yes, Doctor," she agreed quietly, hurrying out of the compartment through the gap in the curtains.

"Sorry," Rick sighed once the curtain fell back into place. He tugged the blanket up and moved to face away from the doctor.

"I'm afraid we're not quite done yet," the doctor said with a brief smile. "Although, I assume you won't have much of a problem sitting up."

"Of course I can sit up," the sandy-haired young man shot back, bolting up and wincing slightly as the abrupt shift in altitude sent another crashing wave of pain through his head. He took a moment to blink it into submission, and then crossed his arms. "Elli's the one who wouldn't let me."

"Well, you know, it's probably better for your health to be under the care of a medical professional who worries too much than too little," Dr. Cuthbert pointed out cheerfully, shining a tiny pinpoint of light into Rick's eye, watching closely for any abnormalities in reaction.

"Yeah, but it's better for my sanity the other way," Rick muttered.

A dark eyebrow lifted.

"Would you like me to send you back home to your sister, and instruct her to make sure you get at least a week of bedrest?"

"No, that's fine, I'll stay here," Rick replied hastily. "Just...try to keep Elli away from me, okay? It's one thing when I'm healthy, but there's nothing worse than an obsessive mini-Mom when you're under the weather."

The doctor shrugged.

"I don't know; I had a flu a few months back, and I kind of liked the fussing."

"I'll bet you liked having your own eager nubile servant-girl," Rick snorted, laughing in spite of himself.

"It must be the y-chromosome."

The sandy-haired boy stared for an incredulous moment, then laughed heartily. Then he winced as he recalled why, exactly, he _didn't_ want to do that.

"I think it's just you, man," he finally informed the doctor sadly. "Personally, I'd take another blow to the head first."

"Well, I can respect personality differences, Rick," Tim said coolly. "Although, I'm afraid I don't quite understand your quarrel with her. Of course, I won't insist that you tell me, but--"

"Okay, well, first of all, she's way too fussy," interjected Rick, who had no such reservations. "The mini-Mom thing. I swear, she can be in three places at once when there's a sick person around, so she can spend the entire day hanging over your shoulder, offering soup, and _still_ get all her work done."

"It's a rare gift," Dr. Cuthbert said with a tone of not-quite-paternal pride. "Although, in this context, I would say that her fussing has more to do with her job than anything else. If she just sort of ignored a suffering patient in favour of filing her nails, I'd be in for a hell of a lawsuit."

"Yeah, but even when we were kids," Rick insisted. "Someone would trip and bang their knee or something, and she'd make everyone stop playing so she could drag them home!"

"I believe your sister quite liked that about her," Tim pointed out, chuckling slightly at the memoy of Popuri clutching his little assistant's arm, gushing enthusiastically about how Elli had been the perfect nurse, even at eight.

"Hmph. Could be that's why Popuri's such a pushover for the first good-looking guy she sees now," Rick muttered darkly.

"Alright, so you object to her motherly streak."

"It's not just that," the younger man sighed. "She's just so damn..._nice_."

"She's...nice," Tim repeated, rather floored.

"_Too_ nice. It's disgusting."

"Well, if you'd like, I could talk with her about it, and see if she would mind referring to you as Four-Eyes from now on, and complaining constantly about the smell of chicken droppings hanging about you at all times."

"Ha-ha, Doctor. You know what I mean. She's such a damn pushover. It kind of makes a guy a little paranoid, you know? I'd like her a lot more if she'd just get good and mad, just once."

"Something tells me you just might be treated to the sight before the week is out," the dark-haired man murmured, wondering briefly if it might be a good time to mention the young lady's increased workload over the past few weeks, and the corresponding shortening of her fuse.

"Not to mention," Rick continued, completely missing the doctor's comment now that he had hit his stride, "she's kind of...I don't know, weak. Seems like she couldn't put up with the slightest bit of conflict or difficulty I swear, if things ever stopped being all happy-happy and sunshine for her, she'd probably fall apart."

"Now, I don't think that's exactly fair," Tim protested, peering sternly at the boy. "You have no idea how she would react to, as you call it, real trouble. Just because she puts forward a pleasant face is no reason to assume that she was born without a spine."

"Whatever you say, Doc. You just asked me why I don't like her, and I told you. She's too nice, too weak, and boring as hell."

"I see," Tim sighed. "Well, I suppose you can call at least one of those entirely subjective." He stood. "I think we're through here. Why don't you get a little more rest? Just call one of us if you need anything."

Rick nodded, winced, and flopped obediently back down, and the labcoat-clad man went back to his desk and resumed his work, all the while pondering at the back of his mind the probability of severe emotional issues on the part of young Rick regarding his mother.

After all, he had never met anyone who exemplified _too nice_ and _too weak _more thoroughly than the woman at the poultry farm. This was the woman who had let her husband wander away on a fool's errand, despite knowing quite well that there was no way her health could handle running a business the size of Chicken Lil's. This had, in turn, put far more responsibility and stress on her son than he could, apparently, handle with his sanity intact.

Meanwhile, the woman had made it perfectly clear, and very public, that she had no intention of sending for her husband, or even sending word that her health was worsening, and he was badly needed at home.

None of this occurred to the doctor so much in concrete terms, but as a vague, misty suspicion that perhaps Rick was reacting to the tendencies of _too nice_ and _too weak_ in his own mother. Didn't it happen sometimes, that a person could subconsciously project a dislike of someone's actions onto a different, more convenient target? In Rick's case, it could be that the idea of being annoyed with his mother's behaviour went entirely against the familial loyalty that was all but second nature to him.

At any rate, true or not, his hypothesis made a little more sense than taking Rick's complaints about Elli at face value.

He was a smart boy, when he managed to ignore his gut-overreactions and use his head; it didn't make a lot of sense that he could look at a girl who had been orphaned at fifteen, acted for the following seven years as her little brother's primary caretaker and her grandmother's physical therapist in addition to holding down a full-time job and excelling in her schooling, all without snapping under the pressure, and coming to the conclusion of weak.

Or perhaps, Dr. Cuthbert amended to himself with a small smile, this sort of thing was why he had gone into general medicine instead of psychiatric or psychological care.

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As Rick dozed and the doctor _theorized_, Elli sat on the other side of the curtain, at the Clinic's front desk, going about her work with one half of her brain and fuming with the other.

Finally, giving up in despair, she pushed the piles of papers aside, yanked a piece of scrap paper from her desk, and began to doodle furiously.

Five minutes later, the previously blank sheet was covered with an array of sketches of elaborately prepared dishes such as roast chicken, barbecue wings, chicken salad, lemon chicken breast, and chicken teriyaki, augmented by a little scribble of a Rick with glasses half the size of his face sobbing hysterically over his fallen pals.

She stretched luxuriously, and smiled, massaging the cramp from her hand.

Much better. There was something to be said for a little pure childishness every now and again.

Singing softly, Elli pulled the stack of files to be updated back in front of her, and resumed her work.

After about twenty relatively uneventful moments of sifting and sorting and correcting, she looked up at a light tap on her shoulder.

"I've got a few appointments before we close," Dr. Cuthbert told her, voice hushed. "Could you go make up one of the upstairs rooms for Rick? I'll send him in a few minutes."

She smiled brightly, choking back the urge to agree on the condition that she didn't actually have to converse with the aforementioned patient.

"Of course, Doctor."

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Rick leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching in mild impatience to return to his half-dozing state, as Elli hurried about the small, neat, plain room with its lacy curtains and patchwork quilts, straightening, dusting, and rearranging painkillers and bottles of water on the bedside table.

"Alright, I've left some extra blankets in the closet in case you get cold, and some different painkillers. You have a concussion, so we've left you some Tylenol 3. But those can make you awfully drowsy, and they might be hard on your stomach, so try not to use them unless the pain gets a lot worse. In that case, you might want to come let the doctor or me know about it, too. I've also left you a few of my Excedrin Migraine, although that'll mostly put you to sleep," she finished with a little giggle. "Advil likely won't be enough to completely get rid of the pain quite yet, but within a few days, it should probably--"

"Elli!" Rick broke in. "There are instructions on all of those pills, and I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to use a blanket even without any _special tutoring_ with the doctor."

"Right," she agreed softly, cheeks flushing red. She trotted quickly towards the door, and then, in the doorway, stopped and turned to him. "Um...if Karen or your mom or Popuri comes by, can I send them up to see you?"

"Send Mom or Karen if you want," Rick shrugged. "But I don't really feel like talking to my sister right now."

"But why?" she demanded, near a wail, before she could choke back the question.

With a noise of disdain, he pushed away from the doorway.

"Hey, she hasn't wanted anything to do with me in years. Why should she start now? Damned if I'm going to play the dutiful, forgiving brother, when I know she's just going to go right back to wishing I was dead as soon as I'm out of here."

Almost on impulse, she gave his shoulder a comforting little squeeze.

"Rick, I know it seems like she hates you sometimes, but--"

"No offense, Elli, but could you please just shut up?" he requested tersely, shrugging away from her hand. "If you're saying I should be grateful to Kai for dragging me here, you obviously don't know anything about it."

She regarded him coolly.

"Right, I forgot that you're the only one here with a younger sibling prone to tantrums.What was I thinking, claiming to know anything about being more or less responsible for a little kid with a temper, because the only other person around doesn't have the energy to do it anymore?"

"Okay, I get--"

"It's kind of funny, that I'm dealing with pretty much the same situation you are, yet I have _no idea what a real problem is,_" she finished in her best approximation of the young man watching her in slightly stunned nervousness. "It's also kind of funny that _I'm _the weak one, while _you're_ the one who's managed to alienate your own sister, her close friend, and throw the town into a huge uproar over nothing every summer!"

"Oh, geez, you heard that, huh? Listen, Elli--"

"For God's sake, Rick, at least Popuri has a good reason to be angry with you a lot of the time! There's a big difference between terrorizing your eighteen-year old sister's friends because you can't be bothered to get to know them before jumping to conclusions, and trying to get your eight-year old brother to eat the occasional vegetable!"

"Does he seriously have every girl in town under a spell, or something?" he muttered, nevertheless springing off the bed and catching the trembling little brunette by both shoulders. "Elli! Calm down! Maybe I wasn't being totally fair, but that's no reason to make yourself sick!"

"Piss off," she muttered, shrugging out of his grip. "I have work to do."

He watched bewilderedly as she stormed out of the room, stopping in the doorway and turning.

"Oh, and one more thing, _Richard_. You might say that I'm boring as all hell, but let me just remind you, not every second spent with you is exactly laced with pure distilled excitement."

With that, she began to fling the door shut with a rough slam, then caught it at the last second and closed it quietly.

"Yup," Rick commented cheerfully to himself. "She's losing it."

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Meanwhile, downstairs in his office, the doctor listened attentively to the indistinguishable shouts drifting from overhead in a light, feminine voice just now tinged with deep anger.

"Hmm. I think I'll go get Elli some chocolate."

After all, when dealing with an irate female, it was best to be safe.

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"Oh, hi, Popuri," Elli greeted cheerfully a scant twenty-two minutes later as a young lady with an armful of flowers shuffled nervously into the Clinic. Her eyes flickered to the dark-eyed, bandana-topped fellow just beyond the cloud of soft wavy pink, and she smiled again. "Hi, Kai."

"Hey, Elli," Popuri returned with a weak smile. The puffy redness around her eyes was difficult to miss, and Elli bounced up from her chair to give her a careful hug. "Did...um, has Rick woken up yet?"

"I think he's probably still awake," Elli replied innocently, hastily sliding her doodles underneath a stack of work. "Why don't I take you up to see him?"

Popuri sniffled slightly, and squeezed her friend's hand gratefully.

"Sure. Thanks, Elli."

Kai hung back as the two girls headed toward the stairs.

"I'll wait here," he called when they sent him dual curious looks. "Tell him I really am sorry about the rock, okay, Poppi?"

As their footsteps echoed on the stairs, Kai looked furtively to left, then to the right, and then dove for the stack of paperwork where Elli had hidden...whatever it was, just as they showed up.

He stared for a long, stunned moment at the admittedly crudely drawn doodles of Rick sobbing for the fate of his chickens, then doubled over into silent snickers.

Maybe Elli made a better nurse than an artist, but there was something to be said for doing what you could with a good concept.

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"Rick?"

The aforementioned gave a groan of protest and swatted weakly at the origin of the soft beckoning trying to rouse him out of his light doze.

Nevertheless, the voice persisted, hands appearing out of nowhere to shake his shoulder lightly. Finally, on the third try, he managed to get his eyes open.

"Elli?"

"That's me," she chirped, already half-assisting, half-dragging him into a sitting position and propping his pillows up behind him. "Popuri's come to visit."

"W-what? I asked you not to bring her upstairs!"

Elli gave him a beaming smile.

"Oh, sorry. I must have forgotten."

"Well, could you go tell her I'm asleep or something," he requested groggily.

She nodded briskly, then hurried over to the door.

"Popuri!" she called into the hallway. "You can come in now." At the sensation of his eyes burning furiously into her back, she cast another beaming smile over her shoulder. "Sorry, Rick, I guess I forgot again."

With that, she trotted from the little room, smiling to herself as a quick glance over her shoulder revealed Rick being enveloped in a cloud of soft pink, flowery perfume, and shrill noise of relief and apology.

"Everything okay up here?"

She gave a startled little shriek and whirled about, nearly losing her balance, and blushing slightly as her young, handsome, and utterly irresistible boss and Bringer of Everlasting Snuggles caught her by the waist.

"Just fine," she finally replied innocently.

Dr. Cuthbert gave her a Look that attempted to be stern, but quickly dissolved into quiet laughter.

"Well, it doesn't sound like anyone's being murdered in there, so I think we can forgive your flagrant disregard for orders this time."

They started toward the stairs, and at the landing, he caught her arm.

"Hold on; just how did you know that they were actually going to talk this time, instead of bickering?"

Elli flushed guiltily.

"W-well, it was partly because of how worried Popuri was when she came in. If she's that worried about him, she might actually listen to the love behind his bumbling, instead of getting angry the first time he says something...well, Rick-ish. And we all know that he cares a lot about his baby sister, and he's probably nowhere near as mad at me for letting her see him as he's pretending to be. But...um, for the most part, I just took her upstairs right away because he asked me not to."

He shook his head, chuckling, then kissed her forehead swiftly.

"You really can be a brat, given the right inspiration, can't you?"

"I think almost anyone can," she replied thoughtfully as they started down the stairs. "I think most people would have done the same, and--Kai! What are you doing?!"

The dark-eyed boy hunched over the desk and scribbling furiously dropped his pencil and leapt back as though burned.

"Ah, nothing! Just...passing the time."

With an exasperated noise, Elli bustled over to the desk and picked up the piece of paper. Her lips twitched slightly, and she quirked a curious eyebrow at Kai.

"Okay, so why were you _passing the time_ by editing my doodles?"

"Call it instinct," Kai shrugged. "It's not bad work. Good likeness of Rick. But I don't know if they really serve Chicken a la King with a little crown."

"Well, how would I know that? I've never had it before!" she protested.

"I think I might have had it once in a city in the north," Kai said, frowning in concentration as his mind attempted to drudge up the details. "It was a stew, kind of..."

Amid the ensuing discussion on the nature and proper construction of Chicken a la King, the doctor rolled his eyes good-humouredly.

"Do I want to know what's going on here?"

But before the good Doctor could find the answer to his burning question, a little pink-haired visitor, one or two blossoms woven into her thick curls, crept down the stairs.

"Um, Kai?" Popuri called hesitantly.

He looked up, surprised.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Could you come upstairs with me for a second? Rick, um, wants to apologize, but he said he wants you to come upstairs, because he doesn't want to just do it second-hand."

A long, stunned silence follows.

"Say that again?" Kai requested.

Popuri giggled.

"That's what I said. But I think he really means it. We talked a little bit about...um, everything, and I think I might have got him to understand that he's worrying over nothing, and the other guys in town are too, because it's the first time he's ever said anything nice about you, and you said you'd be willing to make peace if he stopped acting like...well..."

Kai laughed.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, if he's serious, of course I'll listen. I guess I should probably apologize in person, too." He shook his head. "Man...if I'd known hitting him in the head with a rock was the way to get through to him, I'd have done it years ago."

Popuri gave a slightly guilty little giggle. Elli gave a not-at-all-guilty little cackle. Dr. Cuthbert elbowed her gently in the ribs, before frowning sternly at the young couple.

"Alright, you two, go on up and let my nurse get back to work."

Amid the flurry of motion for the stairs, Elli slunk, pouting, back to her desk and made several valiant attempts to get her attention back on the files. Finally, hair prickling with the strange sensation of being watched, she peeked over her shoulder to find the doctor's eyes still on her, mouth quirked upward into a hint of a smile.

"I take it you had something to do with this?"

"Not intentionally!" she protested, then sighed. "Even my petty revenge schemes turn into good deeds. Maybe Rick was right: maybe I _am _too nice."

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End Notes: Aaaaaaaaand, scene. Because I honestly believe that if Popuri and Rick had ever sat down and had a real conversation, without either one of them blowing up and storming off, it would have done wonders for everyone. It's pretty difficult to know what to do - or do anything calmly - when a family member that you love dearly wants nothing to do with you, and won't tell you why. Popuri tells Farmerguy that Rick's protectiveness bothers her, but ten to one odds she's never bothered to tell Rick that without some variationg of the thoroughly capslocked phrase "I HATE YOU!!!"

Not that the whole situation was fair to poor stuck-in-the-middle Kai...but Rick is still cute, so I still wuvvle him. XD

Oh, and I don't really think Rick hated Elli in-game. I think they were probably good buddies as kids, and friendly, courteous, but generally indifferent to each other as grown-ups.


End file.
